Casey Frank

Casey Frank

Medal record
Men's Basketball
Competitor for  New Zealand
Commonwealth Games
Silver	2006 Melbourne	Team Competition

Casey Frank (born October 23, 1977) is an American-New Zealand professional basketball player who currently plays for the New Zealand Breakers of the Australian National Basketball League. He played college basketball at Northern Arizona University.

The 2.03 metre tall power forward has played professionally in the United States, France and Sweden, before landing at the Auckland Stars in 2002. He helped Auckland to NBL titles in 2004 & 2005 and Wellington Saints in 2010 & 2011. Frank has been Outstanding Forward and selected to the All-Star Five three times each. He was an import with the New Zealand Breakers in their debut season until cut mid-season, and has also played for the Wollongong Hawks and the Gold Coast Blaze in the Aussie league, but is now better known as colour commentator for SKY’s Breakers coverage. Frank debuted for the Tall Blacks in China in 2005 and gained New Zealand citizenship for inclusion in the 2006 Commonwealth Games silver medal team. Seven years later, he remains the Tall Blacks’ sole naturalised player, and has now attended two FIBA World Championships in Japan and Turkey.^[1]

Professional career

Frank went undrafted in the 1999 NBA draft. He was tested by different teams in Spain, France and Australia but ultimately did not play professionally in 1999–2000.^[2]

In 2000, he signed with the La Crosse Bobcats of the CBA for the 2000–01 season.

In 2001, he signed with Sallen Basket of Sweden for the 2001–02 season.

In 2002, he joined the Auckland Stars of the New Zealand NBL where he played 8 seasons, winning 2 championships (2004 & 2005) and many individual awards. In 2006, he gained New Zealand citizenship, allowing him to play for the Tall Blacks and as a Kiwi in the NZNBL.^[2]

In mid-2003, he signed with the New Zealand Breakers of the Australian NBL for the club's debut season. In November 2003, after 12 games, he was released by the Breakers.

In mid-2005, he signed with the West Sydney Razorbacks of the Australian NBL. In September 2005, after just 3 games, he was released by the Razorbacks. In November 2005, he re-signed with the New Zealand Breakers, but was again released after just 2 games.

In 2006, he signed with the Wollongong Hawks of the Australian NBL. He finished his first full season in the ANBL, playing 33 games and averaging 11.8 points, 7.2 rebounds and 1.9 assists per game.

In April 2007, he signed a three-year deal with the Gold Coast Blaze.^[3] In December 2009, he was released by the Blaze after 2 and half seasons.

In early 2010, he signed with the Wellington Saints for the 2010 New Zealand NBL season. He later re-signed with the Saints for the 2011 season.

In January 2012, he again re-signed with the Saints for the 2012 New Zealand NBL season.^[4]

In October 2012, he again re-signed with the Saints for the 2013 New Zealand NBL season.^[5]

On 8 January 2014, Frank signed with the New Zealand Breakers as an injury replacement for Alex Pledger.^[6][7] On 10 January 2014, in his first game for the Breakers, Frank recorded 9 points, 2 rebounds, 1 assist and 1 block in just under 16 minutes playing time in a 93-87 win over the Melbourne Tigers. On 17 January 2014, in his second game for the Breakers, Frank recorded 3 points, 1 rebound and 1 assist in a 72-97 loss to the Perth Wildcats. In the loss, he lasted just over seven minutes before fouling out in club record time.^[8][9]

Personal

In August 2013, Frank graduated with a Master of Business Administration (MBA).^[8]

References

External links

• ANBL stats
• Profile at Eurobasket.com